Error Failed to start Apply Kernel Variables.

[v7peer]

When I shutdown I get the following error in kubuntu 18.10:
'[FAILED] Failed to start Apply Kernel Variables
See systemctl status systemd-sysctl.service for details'

Here is the output of the command 'systemctl status systemd-sysctl.service'

peer@kubuntu:~$ systemctl status systemd-sysctl.service
● systemd-sysctl.service - Apply Kernel Variables
 Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/systemd-sysctl.service; static; vendor preset: enabled)
 Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2018-12-23 12:18:54 CET; 1min 40s ago
   Docs: man:systemd-sysctl.service(8)
         man:sysctl.d(5)
Process: 636 ExecStart=/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 636 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: systemd-sysctl.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Apply Kernel Variables.
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: Starting Apply Kernel Variables...
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: systemd-sysctl.service: Main process exited, code=exited, st
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: systemd-sysctl.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Apply Kernel Variables.
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: Starting Apply Kernel Variables...
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: systemd-sysctl.service: Main process exited, code=exited, st
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: systemd-sysctl.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
dec 23 12:18:54 kubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Apply Kernel Variables.

What can be the cause of this error

'

[jglen490]

Is this after a new installation of Kubuntu?

Is this after an update of Kubuntu?

If possible, post the results of

inxi -rFxz

[v7peer]

I installed 18.04 a few months ago. I updated to 18.10 one or two weeks after it was launched. So this happened after an update. I think I saw this error a few days ago for the first time.

inxi -rFxz:

peer@kubuntu:~$ inxi -rFxz
System:    Host: kubuntu Kernel: 4.15.0-36-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.3.0 
          Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.13.5 Distro: Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: N/A v: N/A serial: <filter> 
          Mobo: Gigabyte model: Z77M-D3H v: x.x serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends 
          v: F13 date: 09/19/2012 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-3570K bits: 64 type: MCP 
          arch: Ivy Bridge rev: 9 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
          flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 27227 
          Speed: 1602 MHz min/max: 1600/3800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1602 2: 1602 3: 1602 
          4: 1602 
Graphics:  Device-1: AMD Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] driver: radeon 
          v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 
          Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.1 driver: ati,radeon 
          unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
          OpenGL: renderer: AMD CAPE VERDE (DRM 2.50.0 4.15.0-36-generic LLVM 7.0.0) 
          v: 4.5 Mesa 18.2.2 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
          v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
          Device-2: AMD Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series] 
          driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
          Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-36-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR93xx Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k 
          v: kernel bus ID: 02:00.0 
          IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
          Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet driver: atl1c 
          v: 1.0.1.1-NAPI port: d000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
          IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.94 TiB used: 1.11 TiB (57.2%) 
          ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: CT128M550SSD1 size: 119.24 GiB 
          ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 size: 931.51 GiB 
          ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZRX-00D8PB0 size: 931.51 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 91.17 GiB used: 10.98 GiB (12.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
          ID-2: /home size: 915.89 GiB used: 620.94 GiB (67.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 
          ID-3: swap-1 size: 26.11 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: radeon temp: 43 C 
          Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
          1: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic main restricted
          2: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic-updates main restricted
          3: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic universe
          4: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic-updates universe
          5: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic multiverse
          6: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic-updates multiverse
          7: deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ cosmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
          8: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu cosmic-security main restricted
          9: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu cosmic-security universe
          10: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu cosmic-security multiverse
          No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/alessandro-strada-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list 
          Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/flacon-ubuntu-ppa-cosmic.list 
          1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/flacon/ppa/ubuntu cosmic main
          Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/musicbrainz-developers-ubuntu-stable-cosmic.list 
          1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/musicbrainz-developers/stable/ubuntu cosmic main
Info:      Processes: 189 Uptime: 1h 28m Memory: 15.63 GiB used: 1.86 GiB (11.9%) 
          Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.2.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 
          inxi: 3.0.24

[Snowhog]

Take a look at this Q&A on LinuxQuestions.org, as it will most likely point you in the direction you need to go to hunt this down: update problem - procps "Failed to start Apply Kernel Variables"

[v7peer]

Thanks, I will look into that post.

[v7peer]

The problem in the Q&A seems almost exactly the same as mine. I noticed that my output was not complete (lines were cut off) so I ran the command again. Now the output showed that the error should be in the file "/etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf:35". S0 I looked in this file on line 35:

30 # Uncomment the next line to enable packet forwarding for IPv6
31 #  Enabling this option disables Stateless Address Autoconfiguration
32 #  based on Router Advertisements for this host
33 #net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1
34
35 s
36 ###################################################################

The character 35 on line 35 seems the cause of the problem. I do not know how this character got here. I compared this file with the same file in another installation. In that file this line is empty so I will remove this character and I think the problem will be resolved.

[v7peer]

Problem solved!!. The error message is gone.